Plus: MeTV expands Svengoolie; MLS and Apple makes linear broadcasting deals; PBS stations to stream on LocalNow. One of the top-rated overnight voices in Chicago radio is coming back for an encore. The husband-and-wife team of Steve King and Johnnie Putnam will be returning to WGN Radio on Saturday nights starting January 7, where they’ll have a weekly show airing […]
Nation’s largest station group is up against the nation’s largest cable operator in retrans battle Just a week after local DirecTV subscribers dodged a bullet when the satellite TV provider made a last-minute deal with Fox to keep the network and its related channels on the service in midst of the FIFA World Cup and a Packers-Bears game, Chicago viewers […]
Welcome to the 17th annual T Dog Media Turkey Awards! This year, 22 unlucky recipients (with one shared) are honored for being awful people, terrible companies, and those who are jerks in every walk of life. If there’s a theme, it’s the year of being a CEO or billionaire – or both as they’re throwing their power and influence around, […]
Nexstar financial chief says money from sale of printing press property helped purchase The CW [Editor’s Note: This story was updated November 19.] It turns out there is a Chicago connection to the recent purchase of The CW network by Irving, Tex.-based Nexstar Media Group – and it involves a future casino in our town. As reported by Hollywood trade […]
Good Karma is new flagship home of the Chicago Bears – and they may looking for a new TV partner as well While the Chicago Bears are remaking their team for the future by trading away players for future draft picks, the team also made a major move on the radio front and may look to do so on the […]
Pritzker, Bailey showdown tops time slot in viewers, demos Chicago viewers obviously love their politics: according to Nielsen in a press release from Nexstar’s WGN-TV, the first of two Illinois gubernatorial debates between incumbent Democrat J.B. Pritzker and Republican Darren Bailey was a big local ratings hit on October 6, winning the 7-8 p.m. time period with an exact total […]
Also: The Drive promotes Janda Lane to middays; Nexstar closes the deal to buy The CW; NATPE files for bankruptcy; Svengoolie is hiring! The move was expected for months, and now it’s official: The Chicago Sun-Times announced Thursday it is removing the paywall for all stories. This comes as the newspaper and Chicago Public Media’s WBEZ-FM announced a non-profit merger […]
Also: Jennifer Hudson, Sherri Sheppard start off well; Clippers return to broadcast TV in L.A. We won’t go into this as much as we did in previous years when the Bears and Packers play in primetime as what has been said about this…has already been said. The Chicago team’s 27-10 loss to Green Bay drew 20.8 million viewers across NBC, […]
Also: local Atlanta station removes popular syndicated show to air more news; controversial political ad removed from local airwaves; the GOP looking to deregulate the media business even more; Ramsey Lewis dies [Editor’s Note: There is an update to the second story in this piece. See below.] Thursday Night Football may have left Fox, but its owned stations certainly haven’t […]
Ad featured a darkened Mayor Lightfoot and violent images, but is it enough to be rejected by local TV stations? For those hoping local TV stations would reject an obviously racist and violent campaign ad running for the past week, it may – or may not happen. In the last week, a Political Action Committee – or PAC, bought time […]
No cash is exchanged; big changes are planned Television’s worst kept secret was finally made official Monday as Irving, Tex.-based Nexstar has acquired a majority stake in The CW from Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global. Speculation has been branded about since January, when word came both Warner and Paramount were looking to unload the fifth network and Nexstar […]
Also: Peoria’s WEEK absorbs rival’s news operation; name change ahead for CBS Media Ventures?; L.A. independent TV station ends long run [Editor’s Note: An earlier post had the incorrect title of a Beyonce song as the word “Ring” was replaced with…something else. It has since been corrected. – T.H.] It’s not a format change per se, but a slogan one: […]
The CNN castoff finds new home thanks to Nexstar You probably figured Chris Cuomo’s appearance on NewsNation’s Dan Abrams Live Tuesday night would leave to something more for the ex-CNN host down the line. It was so carefully orchestrated you’d think Abrams offered Cuomo a job right on the air. And boom – shortly after his appearance, the Nexstar-owned cable […]
CW cancellations fuel speculation of deal forthcoming Five months ago, The CW – the joint venture between Warner Media (now Discovery Warner Bros.) and ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global), created by the merger of UPN and The WB in 2006 was up for sale, with Irving, Tex.-based Nexstar the leading suitor. So where does things stand now? A glimpse of […]
Also: WBEZ ties for 1st in PPMs; WTMX has a new afternoon show; Black News Channel update It looks like the technician strike at Chicago’s WTTW isn’t going to end anytime soon. IBEW 1220, who represents technicians and electricians at the North Side public television station, went on strike on March 16 demanding better pay, working conditions, and against shifting […]
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